Author Posts

UTMB: The long and winding road to the blue carpet.

A couple of years ago, I listened to a podcast that had a real impact on me and forced me to look at some of my fairly strongly held beliefs. John McAvoy’s story is one of such a 360 degree pivot, it’s like a Hollywood film. Growing up around career criminals, it seemed inevitable that [...]

Trust your gut: when stepping back can be a step forward.

In her latest – and very important – book, ‘In Her Nature’, Rachel Hewitt writes about what sport really is. The true meaning of sport is not the one we attribute to it today, where people compete  in standardised competition for time, trophies and kudos. There are many definitions of the word but originally, it […]

The Road to London: my second road marathon.

‘Have you done London?’ is a very common question that non-runners ask when you tell them that you run. When the answer is no, you get the feeling that they’re not very impressed. ‘But I have run lots of trail marathons and ultras’, you say. ‘Meh’, might not be the actual response but it might [...]

When the red mist clears.

There is always an element of 'red mist' at the start of any race, no matter how relaxed you tell yourself you are. Surrounded by other runners, you start to think tactics and plot your stellar performance as your heart beats louder and your stomach flips. It's less often that there is actual, literal red [...]

Brave, bruised… Me.

After about three years of only entering and running trail races, vowing that 'technical' routes were my nightmare, last weekend I found myself clinging to what I deemed a sheer rock face in Wales roughly halfway into a 50km mountain race. Was I practically frozen, unable in places to lift my left leg and needing [...]

Sound and Fury: The Hardmoors 160 Take Two.

You might think that when you win a huge race and you get a sword, a flippin' sword, as a prize that you would feel really happy. You might think that if that happened and you didn't feel happy, you were ungrateful and sour. That did happen to me a few weeks ago and, even [...]

Aren’t women brilliant?!

The Meredith Brooks song, ‘Bitch’ came on the radio twice in the last week while I was driving and I took it as a sign. International Women’s Day was looming and I felt compelled to prove the title of this blog. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of whether men or women [...]

A Lyke Wake up call

Yesterdays Lyke Wake Challenge wasn’t the worst run I have had, it certainly wasn’t the best, but it was one of the strangest. If you asked me why, I wouldn’t be able to explain coherently, all I know is it felt….blah. The Lyke Wake challenge/run/walk is well known in North Yorkshire almost as a rite […]

An hour in the life of an ultra runner.

After realising today that I hadn’t written a blog in a while – since last September! – I started wondering when I would next get the chance, for a race one at least. So rather than wander down Self Pity Street, I decided to pen an account of my latest running challenge. Like many running […]